


Never Getting To Know You

by Nihonkikuasa211



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: Gen, Spoilers, Tag to 2x04
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-27
Updated: 2016-10-27
Packaged: 2018-08-27 09:47:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 945
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8396920
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nihonkikuasa211/pseuds/Nihonkikuasa211
Summary: Noa had misjudged Charlotte. And now she would never get to actually know her.





	

_Never Getting To Know You_

 

Since the first day she had met her, Noa had misjudged Charlotte. As the devastating reality opened a gaping wound in her heart, the red-haired resident remembered of how she had acted around the former child-star. _What is she doing here?_ Even though she didn't outright ask if Charlotte was researching for a role, her thoughts came close enough.

Her dark face had changed, thinning into a woman’s and her expression serious when the senior nurse came into the room and told them that for the next three years, he would be their Mama. Noa had only a vague idea where Mama was now; he had left with Dr. Rorish, who had almost broken down at the death of one of her residents. _"She is my responsibility!"_ A lump bulged in her throat, searching for a way out that would never come. Noa was now alone. They were in the empty emergency room - the one that previously had patients in until a patient, high on meth, had opened fired.

It was quiet. Far too quiet.

At the corner of her eye, she could see Mario and Angus, the second-years, sitting beside each other in two of the chairs nearby. For a mere moment, the younger resident wanted to speak. To say what, she didn’t know.

Who could say anything after what had happened? What could they say? A patient high on methamphetamine, a gun, and a little girl dressed as the iconic character Jessamine had orchestrated the event that Noa still did not understand. When Dr. Guthrie had stated to focus only on their patient, the red-haired resident hadn’t known what he was talking about. Both first-year residents had made a mistake that could cost a patient his life, she hadn’t understood what he was trying to tell them. When the female resident had seen Charlotte with her chest cavity open and with the doctors’ hands inside her organs to try to stop the bleeding, Noa had forgotten what Dr. Guthrie had said. She could only focus on the fact that her colleague, her friend, was bleeding out and the ER was suddenly too small.

Noa had misjudged Charlotte. When she had first walked into ER as a first-year resident of Angels Memorial Hospital, she had thought that the pampered child-star didn’t belong here. She had no idea what she was doing, and the emergency medicine that she was studying was only a game to her. As a child, Noa _had_ seen the movies that Charlotte had been in. How could she not? The iconic series that every one of her generation was blabbing about had to be seen, even though at age nine, Noa was bored to death fifteen minutes into the first movie. She had better things to do. Practice her skateboarding for one. Eventually, Noa had gained enough bruises and broken bone to realize that she could learn more, and do something with it.

She didn’t think that a former actor who had the world at her feet could actually understand what it meant to be a doctor. Even though Charlotte had answered every one of Dr. Rorish’s questions, and was already becoming the teacher’s pet. But the red-haired resident was wrong. _She_ was the one who didn’t understand Charlotte. There were no hard feelings between them after the vagina case, and Noa was surprised to find of how much the fellow resident wanted to break away from her role as Jessamine. Noa had wanted to ask the dark-haired resident why, although now she never could.

Noa didn't think Charlotte was becoming a doctor for the money; before, she had thought the former child-star was simply trying something new, without having any idea of what she was getting into. But now...

It was probably good that the older residents and the attendings had been the ones that had fought to save Charlotte. If it had been her, Noa would have feezed. Their gloves and yellow protection gear were smeared with blood. _I can’t imagine what it must have been like._ How did it feel like, to die? Three weeks into the program, and Noa had already seen so many patients die in the ER. But it was different this time. This time, the patient who had died was someone that Noa knew. That the doctors knew her. Even the dick who seemed to think he knew everything appeared to be upset; shouting to turn off the sound of the flatline. Now that she thought about it, Noa thought that the sound was similar to a wail; a wail for a life that was no longer living, and would never be able to experience anything again.

The female resident swallowed and tried to control the shaking of her hands. She held them in a position similar to a prayer, as the image of the dark blood coating the ER floor bombarded her mind. _You would have made a good doctor._ Charlotte, after one of her patients had lost his leg, had almost told him the truth. And her career would have been finished. Who would have guessed that not even a month afterward, Charlotte’s career would be over?

She had died protecting a little girl dressed up for Halloween as her character. Those were the only real details Noa knew. The character Jessamine was as kind and as brave as the woman who portrayed her. More so, even. _I wanted to get to know you,_ Noa thought as tears started to build in her eyes.

The image of Charlotte’s body lying on the gurney, with the gagging shock in her throat burned in Noa’s mind.

_I hate Halloween._


End file.
